MANILA : Philippine security officials said on Monday ( Jan 20 ) that they had arrested a Chinese software engineer suspected of spying on Filipino military and police camps.
The incarceration comes as maritime clashes between the Philippines and China, over contested islands and lakes in the proper South China Sea, have escalated in recent months.
China claims most of the corporate lake despite an international decision that its claim has no constitutional basis.
The Chinese software engineer, identified as Deng Yuanqing, and his two Filipino drivers were arrested last week as part of counter-espionage operations that began last month, National Bureau of Investigation ( NBI ) chief Jaime Santiago told a news conference.
He alleged that Deng was affiliated with a Taiwanese college controlled by the People’s Liberation Army and was part of a group sent to” do spy in our place”.
The Chinese embassy in Manila did not respond quickly to requests for comment on the arrest and complaints.
The NBI’s crime key Jeremy Lotoc said Deng had made repeated visits to” vital infrastructure, especially military camps, local government offices, power plants, authorities camps, stations, yet buying malls”.
” They were essentially collecting information and they have this secluded program which transmits outside the region in real time information that they collected in our state,” Lotoc said.
Lotoc said it was “alarming” because the data being transmitted may include physical location and terrain.